Robert Stanard Explained

Robert Stanard
Office:Justice of the Virginia Supreme Court
Term Start:January 19, 1839
Term End:May 14, 1846
Predecessor:William Brockenbrough
Successor:William Daniel
Office2:Member of the Virginia House of Delegates
from Richmond City
Term Start2:1835
Term End2:1837
Predecessor2:Chapman Johnson
Successor2:unknown
Office3:16th Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates
Term Start3:1816
Term End3:1817
Predecessor3:Andrew Stevenson
Successor3:Linn Banks
Office4:Member of the Virginia House of Delegates
from Spotsylvania County
Term Start4:1808
Term End4:1817
Predecessor4:Hugh T. Mercer
Successor4:Garrett Minor
Birth Date:August 17, 1781
Birth Place:Spotsylvania County, Virginia, U.S.
Death Place:Richmond, Virginia, U.S.
Party:Whig (from 1835)
Otherparty:Independent (1813-1835)
Democratic-Republican (1808-1813)
Children:4
Alma Mater:College of William and Mary
Occupation:Lawyer, judge, politician

Robert Stanard (August 17, 1781 – May 14, 1846) was a Virginia lawyer, judge and political figure. He was the 16th Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates and later a judge on the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals.

Biography

The son of William Stanard and Elizabeth Carter, Robert Stanard was born in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, on August 17, 1781. In 1798, he attended the College of William and Mary,[1] where he studied law. Stanard subsequently began the private practice of law, and eventually became a notable figure in the Richmond legal community.[2] From 1816 to 1817, he was elected as the 16th Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates. In 1817, he became the United States Attorney for the District of Virginia.

Stanard was later selected as a member of the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1829-1830, which revised the Constitution of Virginia. His contribution to the convention were well received and increased his prominence. In 1839, he was elected to the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, upon the death of Judge William Brockenbrough. He remained on that court until his death in 1846.[2]

The town of Stanardsville, Virginia, is named after him.

Personal life

Stanard married Jane Stith Craig on February 13, 1812, and fathered four children; Robert Craig (b. May 17, 1814), William Beverly (b. March 15, 1819), Mary Elizabeth (b. 1822) and Jane Stith (b. 1822). His son, Robert Craig Stanard, was a childhood friend of poet Edgar Allan Poe, and Jane Stith Craig was the subject of Poe's poem "To Helen". She died on April 28, 1824, at the age of 33 or 34, and Stanard never remarried. She is known posthumously as "Poe's Helen".

References

  1. Book: The History of the College of William and Mary . 1874 . Nov 21, 2009.
  2. Book: Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography; Volume 2. 1915. Lewis Historical Publishing Company. 1177835193. 65. Lyon Gardiner Tyler. Robert Stanard..

External links